Early Exit (a McRoll in the REAL World story)
by sammy1026
Summary: An unexpected event interrupts Steve's reserve duty.


_Mari & Ilna: What can I say? I'm enjoying this adventure every bit as much as I was on day one. Maybe more._

 _REAL Worlders-thanks for all the enthusiastic support. You guys are the best._

* * *

 **Early Exit (1/1)**

"Commander McGarrett, thanks for getting here so fast. Have a seat." The gray-haired Captain indicated the chairs across from his desk.

"What's going on?" Steve asked as he sat down.

He'd been roused from his bunk at 0400 and told to report to Captain Wyman's office immediately. The young ensign who knocked on the door with the order was quick to assure Steve, as per the Captain's specific orders, that whatever was going on had nothing to do with his family's safety and well-being. He was, however, needed on an urgent matter.

He threw on a pair of camo pants and a t-shirt and made it across the base in less than ten minutes.

"Are you familiar with Rear Admiral Adam Torelli?" Wyman asked.

"I've never met him personally, but I've heard of him," Steve replied. "Why?"

"He has a grandson." Captain Wyman handed Steve a grainy picture that had been hastily printed off a social media page. "The kid is eighteen years old. Name is Quinn Rieger. He just finished his freshman year at USC."

"Ok." Steve looked at the picture then back at the Captain with a slightly confused look, unsure how any of this required his being pulled out of bed in the middle of the night. "And?"

"He came to Oahu with a half dozen of his friends last week for a little R&R," Wyman explained. "They were due to head back to the mainland on the redeye tonight, but Quinn never showed at the airport. His friends haven't seen him since 0600 day before yesterday when he left the hotel to get some breakfast."

"Did anyone track his phone?" Steve asked.

Wyman shook his head. "His friends found it in the bushes outside the hotel."

"And they didn't think to report him missing until now?" Alarm bells started to go off in Steve's mind. There had to be some reason the call wasn't made sooner. In his experience it was one of two things. Either the friends were covering for Quinn or they were covering for themselves.

"They said they assumed he'd hooked up with someone and would turn up in time to catch the flight," Wyman reported. "They called HPD who contacted the family. Once the Rear Admiral got word he made it clear he wants more firepower working on the case. All hands on deck."

Steve pulled out his phone. "I can call Danny and get the team working on …" he started but Wyman cut him off.

"Not just your team," he said. "You as well. The Rear Admiral requested you personally. As of this minute you have been assigned back to Five-0 for the duration of this case in lieu of completing your reserve assignment."

"Really?" Steve asked. With Angie's 1st birthday coming up in a month he wanted to make sure he wasn't going to end up having to complete the rest of his two-week reserve duty at a later date that might interfere with the celebration.

"The Rear Admiral called me personally and told me he cleared it through all necessary channels," Wyman said. "Your sole focus is to be this case. He asks that you call him if you need anything and that you keep him informed as to exactly what is going on."

"Will do," Steve said.

Wyman stood. "Quinn's friends are being transported to HPD as we speak. I assumed you'd want to talk to them first."

Steve nodded. "I do. I'll call my team and we'll get right to work."

* * *

Chin and Kono headed to the office to find out everything they could about the missing boy from school records and social media while Steve met Danny at the police station to talk to Quinn's friends.

When they entered the conference room they found five rather scared looking young men who all appeared to be around Quinn's age. Clean cut. Clear, if somewhat tired, eyes. No visible cuts or bruises. No sign that there had been any kind of trouble.

Steve looked over the pages Duke had handed him when he walked into the station. A cursory check on each of the boys turned up no pending warrants and nothing more serious than a speeding ticket on any of their records.

He turned another page.

There had been an incident a few months earlier where three of the five had been cited for underage drinking and excessive noise at an off-campus party along with several dozen other people. It didn't look like anything out of the ordinary, but Steve sent the information along to Kono and asked her to check into the details just to be sure.

"Ok, gentlemen." Steve remained standing and crossed his arms over his chest. "I want to hear every single thing that's happened since the minute you landed on the island. Don't leave anything out."

As the boys filled in their activities over the previous week, from surfing to parasailing to attending a luau, Steve and Danny looked at each other skeptically. What they were hearing resembled the tales of choir boys on vacation.

"Listen, fellas," Danny took a seat across the table from the boys. "That all sounds good and very well-rehearsed and I have no doubt it's exactly what you're going to tell your parents when you get home. Whether _they_ believe you or not is their business." He leaned forward and made eye contact with each one in turn. "But personally, I think it's load of crap." He looked over his shoulder at Steve who nodded in agreement. "We don't care what kind of partying you guys have been doing since you got here but if you don't start telling us the truth … and I mean right now … we'll have no choice but to recreate every second of your lives since you stepped off the plane."

"And if you make us waste all that time," Steve added, "We'll have no choice but to share everything we find with your parents."

His gut feeling was that the boys were just typical college kids blowing off a little steam and hadn't been up to anything too serious, but one of their group was missing and any detail, even one that seemed minor, might be the key to finding him.

The boys looked nervously at each other before the one who had identified himself as Quinn's roommate spoke. "One of my friends from high school goes to UofH. He invited us to a party at his apartment. The next morning we ran into one of the guys we met there on the beach when we went surfing." He began to fidget nervously. "He told us he could get us some weed. He called a friend of his and we met him in the hotel lobby." His scared eyes met Danny's. "It was just a little weed. I swear. And Quinn didn't even have any. He said Ashley would be able to tell and she'd be mad."

"Who's Ashley?" Steve asked.

One of the other boys fielded the question. "She's his ex-girlfriend. They were together all the way through high school. Her father transferred to Pearl right after she graduated so she's living here now. She works at some bar in Honolulu. Quinn was Facebook stalking her like crazy. He wanted to meet up while he was here."

"We need Ashley's last name, along with the name of your friend who hooked you up with the weed dealer." Danny pushed a piece of paper and a pen across the table to the boys. "Also, anyone else you can think of that Quinn knew on the island."

* * *

"From everything we can find he looks like a good kid." Chin swiped several social media posts and a few school records onto the overhead screens as the team gathered around the smart table mapping out their next moves. "He likes USC football, hip hop music and pretty girls. His grade point average after one year is a respectable 3.2. The university reports no disciplinary issues with him."

"He works 15 hours a week as a server at Chili's," Kono added. "I talked to his boss who said Quinn is a good worker, he shows up on time, and everyone likes him. Customers included."

"What about the ex-girlfriend?" Steve asked.

Chin pushed a picture of a pretty blonde with a bright smile wearing a cap and gown onto one of the screens. "Ashley Denbow. Moved here 10 months ago with her parents. Father is stationed at Pearl. Mother works at an accounting firm. She's a full-time bartender at a place called Beachside Brews. She isn't answering her phone, but I left a message for her to call as soon as she can."

"We don't have time to wait for her to call back," Steve said. "Kono, why don't you head out and track her down. See if she talked to Quinn at all while he was here. Chin, Quinn's friends said they met our local weed seller in the lobby of their hotel. Head over there and check the security cam footage. See if you can ID the guy. Talk to the hotel personnel and see if any of them saw Quinn talking to anyone else."

"Sounds good," the cousins said in unison.

"Steve and I are gonna go talk to the friend who threw the party where the boys met the dealer," Danny said. "We're also gonna talk to the people who ran the luau Quinn was at the night before he disappeared and see if they noticed anything unusual."

Steve phone buzzed with an incoming text and he glanced at the screen. "Duke's team finished checking all the morgues and hospitals. Nothing. No activity on his credit card either."

"This kid didn't just disappear into thin air," Danny said, clearly frustrated. "Someone knows where he is."

"Steve nodded. "So, let's go find the right someone."

* * *

Kono headed straight for Ashley Denbow's home address but the house was empty. She called Ashley's number but again there was no answer. After waiting a few minutes she headed to Ashley's mother's office. Kaylene Denbow reported that her daughter had an appointment to get her hair and nails done that morning, but she wasn't positive about the name of the salon. She, too, tried calling her daughter and got no answer.

Kaylene said that she knew Quinn well. She thought he was a nice young man and was actually sorry when he and her daughter decided to break up though she understood. Long distance relationships are difficult at that age. As far as she knew, Ashley hadn't seen Quinn in months. If she had Kaylene was sure her daughter would have mentioned it.

As they chatted the woman's phone rang. "It's her," she said as she connected the call. She quickly informed Ashley the police needed to speak to her about Quinn. When she disconnected the call she turned to Kono. "She's headed for work. Her shift starts in 20 minutes. She said she'll meet you there."

By the time Kono arrived at Beachside Brews Ashley had already taken up her position behind the bar. As they talked, Kono sensed the girl was genuinely concerned and willing to help. She answered every question and didn't appear to be holding anything back.

She insisted she had neither seen nor heard from Quinn in months and didn't even know he was on the island. When Kono told her what his friends had reported, that he was Facebook stalking her trying to arrange a meeting, she pulled out her phone.

"That might explain it," she said sheepishly as she tapped the app to open it. "I hardly ever check Facebook anymore. I post anything important on Instagram." She scanned through her messages then turned the phone towards Kono. "He was definitely trying to hook up, but I swear I never saw these messages before today."

"Apparently you never check your voicemail either," Kono noted.

"Sorry."

"Do you have a boyfriend who might have seen those messages and gotten upset?" Kono asked.

Ashley shook her head. "My boyfriend's name is Cal. We've been dating about six months. He's not big into anything online. He prefers to spend his time surfing. I don't think these messages would have upset him. He knows all about me and Quinn. Besides he's not the jealous type."

"Still," Kono said. 'I'll need to talk to him."

"He's probably still down at the beach." Ashley pointed and smiled. "About a mile that way. The waves were great this morning and he hates to leave good waves."

"You saw him this morning?" Kono asked.

"We surfed for about an hour," Ashley confirmed. "We do it almost every morning."

Kono handed the girl her card. "If you hear anything, or think of anything that might help, let me know right away."

"I will," Ashley promised. "I hope you find him safe. Quinn's a great guy."

* * *

Danny and Steve went well into the night chasing down leads of people who had talked to Quinn at the party he attended a few days earlier. Lots of people remembered having conversations with him and all reported he was in good spirits. He'd had a few drinks but still seemed fully in control of his faculties. He seemed excited about the plans he and his friends had for their remaining time on the island. No one reported seeing him in any kind of confrontation or obvious distress.

Chin called at a little after 10:00 p.m. to say he'd identified the man who sold the boys marijuana and Steve and Danny headed back to HQ to get the details and once again regroup.

"I'm just saying Grace will understand if you have to postpone her birthday adventure because of this case," Danny said with barely concealed glee as Steve navigated the nearly empty streets on his way back to the palace.

"We're not going to have to cancel," Steve replied confidently.

"I'm just saying if you do ... " Danny continued, "I'm sure she'll understand. Maybe you can just do dinner and skip your tradition of taking years off my life by doing something dangerous with my daughter."

"Not dangerous," Steve insisted. "Exciting."

Danny scoffed. "You have a very strange way of defining excitement."

"Says you." Steve smirked at his partner. "Meanwhile, we're closing in on this kid's movements in the hours before he disappeared and it's only a matter of time until we find out what happened."

They were still bickering about Steve's willingness to indulge Grace's adventurous side when they entered the office. Chin and Kono smiled at the familiar sight.

"What'd you find out?" Steve asked as he approached the smart table.

"The guy who sold them the weed is a small time local dealer named Iokua Ola." Chin handed Steve a copy of his rap sheet. "A few busts for possession with intent to distribute but absolutely no record of violence."

"Known associates?" Steve asked as he looked over the record.

"There are few listed but no one violent," Chin said.

"Let's talk to them all anyway." Steve tossed the paper onto the table top. "Quinn's friends said he didn't want any part of the initial weed buy but maybe he changed his mind and called Ola back later. Kono, did you get any leads from the girlfriend?"

She shook her head. "She seemed genuinely concerned about the guy. I talked to her current boyfriend and nothing about him set off any bells either. He really doesn't strike me as the jealous type."

"Let's keep pushing," Steve said. "I have to call the Rear Admiral back in a few hours with another report and I'd really like to have some good news for him."

* * *

The team spent the next 24 hours talking to every informant on the island, looking for any piece of information, no matter how small, that might lead them to Quinn's whereabouts. They showed his picture at every coffee shop and restaurant within a mile of the hotel. Duke sent officers to talk to beachgoers - locals and tourists alike.

It was as if Quinn Rieger had simply vanished.

As they approached the 48-hour mark with no sleep Steve was considering sending everyone home to get some rest. They were all gathered in his office, reviewing every interview so far looking for anything they'd missed, when something Kono had said about her talk with Ashley Denbow sparked a thought.

"Didn't Ashley tell you the reason she didn't see Quinn's messages was because she rarely checks her Facebook page anymore?" he asked.

Kono nodded. "Apparently she's more of an Instagram girl these days."

"Is it possible Quinn might have been stalking that as well?"

Kono pulled out her tablet and navigated her way to Ashley Denbow's Instagram page. She had checked it earlier and hadn't seen anything unusual. "It's mostly pictures of her and her current boyfriend. At the zoo, on a boat, and a whole bunch of them from their morning surf sessions."

She turned the tablet towards Steve and he immediately noted that a sign identifying the beach Ashley and Cal surfed at most mornings was clearly visible in several of the pictures.

"Call Duke and have him meet us on the cliff above Waimea Bay with a fire truck and a rescue team," Steve said as he stood, a sudden surge of adrenaline reenergizing him. "I think I might know where Quinn is. I just hope we're not too late."

"What are you thinking?" Danny asked.

"I'm thinking that Quinn was an 18-year-old boy who wanted to see his ex-girlfriend very badly," Steve called over his shoulder as they made their way down the stairs. "But she wasn't answering his messages. He may have decided to take matters into his own hands."

"Ashley and Cal claim they never saw him," Kono reminded him. "And the people they were surfing with backed up their story."

"Suppose Quinn was trying to arrange to 'accidentally' run into them? An early morning jog in the area would be the perfect way to create a 'coincidental' meeting. He might have decided to start on the ridge above hoping he could claim to have spotted Ashley unexpectedly."

"They closed that ridge trail yesterday because of rock slides," Chin said as they reached the parking lot.

"But that would have been after Quinn went missing." Danny tossed Steve the keys. "I can't believe I'm saying this but whatever you need to do we have to get there fast. This kid might be running out of time."

* * *

"I really can't believe this happened," Quinn Rieger said from his position on the gurney as the paramedics prepared to load him into the ambulance. "I'm so embarrassed. My phone must have fallen out of the pocket of my shorts when I left the hotel."

"Nothing to be embarrassed about." Steve patted his arm, careful to avoid the IV which it was clear the severely dehydrated young man needed desperately. He had been over the cliff, hidden in some lush underbrush, unable to move because of a broken leg and hip for nearly 96 hours. At some point about halfway through the ordeal he found himself too weak to even scream for help.

If Steve hadn't figured out where he was, he would likely not have made it more than another 24 hours. As it was, the paramedics were confident he'd make a full recovery. The most important thing as this point was rehydrating him and that process was already underway.

"My grandfather is gonna be pissed," Quinn moaned.

"He's not," Steve replied with certainty. "When I called to give him an update all he cared about is that you were ok. He can't wait to talk to you."

"I just wanted to see Ashley," the young man said as he squeezed his eyes closed. "I wanted to talk to her."

Danny chuckled. "Don't beat yourself up, kid. We've all been there."

"If it counts for anything she seemed really worried about you," Kono said.

Quinn tried to sit up. "Really?"

Steve placed his arm on the boy's shoulder. "First things first. You do everything the doctors tell you to do and as soon as you get a chance, call your grandfather."

"But you'll tell Ashley where I am. And what happened?" he asked hopefully.

Steve initially started to tell Quinn that wasn't part of his job but something about the look on the boy's face changed his mind.

He knew moony eyes when he saw them.

"She did ask us to keep her updated," he said. "I'll call her."

"Thanks!" Quinn smiled just before the ambulance doors closed.

"All's well that ends well," Chin said as he stifled a yawn.

"That's right." Steve grinned as he slapped Danny on the back. "And now that Quinn is safe, and I've been released early from reserve duty I can finalize plans for Gracie's birthday adventure."

"I hate you," Danny grumbled.

 **THE END**

* * *

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